Kendall's Big Surprise!

On July 15th I was minding my own business when all of a sudden the baby inside me started to show signs that it was getting ready to make its big debut. Around 3am on July 16th we headed to the hospital. Here are the final belly shots taken just before we left the house! Starting to look just a little uncomfortable...

Marissa came along as our support team---at 3am!!! Here she is after running home to get all the things we had forgotten as well as some Mcdonalds breakfast for Keith. I'm just enjoying my clear liquids breakfast--YUM! She was my sister and my nurse and this day wouldn't have been the same without her, so thankful for you Marissa! I can't wait to return the favor :)

After experiencing real deal contractions it was quickly decided that everyone would be happier and have more energy if I got an epideral---thank goodness!

About 12 hours after we arrived, and about 5 hours after the epideral, our little early bird arrived! We were expecting a little boy to be joining us later this month, but what a wonderful surprise that our little GIRL, Kendall, came on July 16th instead! How's that for parental instinct? Keith is my hero, he did everything perfectly, and continues to leave me in awe of how well he takes care of us both. I LOVE love LOVE him more than ever and think parenting together is going to be our best adventure yet.

Kendall Marin Ross

6lbs 9oz 20in

Isn't she the most beautiful baby girl you have ever seen??? Okay, I'm biased of course, but oh man are we so in love!!! Can't imagine any other baby---this one is OURS! Like we actually get to keep her...forever! It's all very surreal.

This is Dr. Hardy who is the most wonderful, kind hearted, encouraging, and thoughtful Dr! I felt so blessed he was able to actually deliver Kendall. He even came back to check in on us later that day and the next day!

Oh how quickly little girls wrap their daddy's around their fingers! Keith is smitten to say the least!

We think she is just a dream! A perfect baby in every way possible!

On our way home from the hospital on July 17th! Sort of a whirlwind but I guess that is just life from here on out!

Darn car seat!

Stay tuned for more.....

July...the month we'll become parents

With baby on the way we've had some extra motivation to finish up a few home projects since we know our life will just get crazier. Most of these projects have been inside (reorganizing EVERY nook and cranny, the big office overhaul, and of course the nursery---see below for pics). The biggest project has certainly been the back yard. The yard has actually been a continual project since we moved in 5 years ago. I wish I had a picture from when we first moved in, it was so messed up and gross, and one of each summer after. Each year we save up money to do something to make it look a little better. We feel confident that as far as aesthetics in the landscaping go we are finally DONE (except for a few fun extra plants or cute decorations! I won't be able to help myself!). Keith has worked SO HARD on our yard this summer, and I've been a great supervisor...he he he! I'm so proud of how it's turned out and so proud of Keith! Our next yard expense will most likely be a sprinkler system, but that may have to wait for another year so we can save up again. Either that or a swing set! We'll see how irritated Keith gets moving hoses around this summer, could move up that project date.

We have a place to sit and visit, a place to eat, a place to lounge in the sun, a place to play in the grass, and most importantly a place to roast marshmallows! Notice the little fire pit area in the far corner? We're glad it's finally getting warm so we can use it!

Other July pics:

A beautiful rainbow for Erik & Laura's wedding up at Schweitzer.

Early morning up at Deer Lake on the 4th of July.

The nursery is complete! I can't wait to put a baby in it!

The culminating nursery project:

As I was searching the web for the perfect nursery wall quote, I found some very fun wall art which inspired THIS cute little branch and birdie. I spoke with my friend Kara, who is a wall art goddess, she gave me a few tips and she loaned me her projector.  I found a sticker that was just perfect, and simple enough that I felt confident I could actually paint it on the wall. I went to work---never mind the odd hours that this project just had to get done in or the panic in my voice when I was told it would have to wait! I"M NOT CRAZY, I"M JUST NESTING.

Last week Keith and Marissa were worried about what other crazy ideas might pop in my head that I just couldn't deny...there were quite a few, but I think the nesting has slowed down a little this week and they can rest easy I won't be recruiting them for any more heavy lifting,  furniture building, or complete reorganizing 

(at least not today).

...with a chance of showers

The end of the school year is always exciting, exhausting, and emotional. We do super fun things to celebrate our learning (and keep the kids attention), and it's tiring to make sure everything fits in (all the June rain we had didn't help with this!)! At the same time it's bitter sweet to say goodbye to the kids you've spent everyday with all year and watched grow and learn. You love them to death, yet are so ready to get a nice long break from them! Needless to say there are a lot of emotions involved in this last week of school...then you add that to pregnancy and you have a teacher in tears over just about anything :) My first graders this year were amazing kids and will always have a special place in my heart because they have certainly been a part of my pregnancy journey. They dealt with the occasional "cranky Mrs. Ross" and produced some of their best work at the Baby's request. In fact, they think the baby is partially theirs and came up with an entire summer school plan in order to be with me AT MY HOUSE to help out with "their baby." And they also suggested I come back next year as their 2nd grade teacher and bring "our baby" with me each day! So I was very honored when they threw me a baby shower the last week of school (with the help of a few super mom helpers!). Sadly, in order to post pics of the event I had to crop or blur out these sweet little munchkins. The funny thing is that the morning of the shower we also had a special field trip to Shiloh to visit our pen pals and many kids told me that between these two events it was the best day of their life!!!  SO cute!

The adorable "Congratulations Mrs. Ross" cake!

This student wore a bouncy ball in his shirt the entire shower!

One of the games was to estimate the size of my belly with a string---they tended to think I was about 2 to 3 times bigger than I actually am! HA!

They also made a book of advice for me as a new mom---HILARIOUS! I was given instructions on how to change diapers and make bottles. I now know that it's my job to care for the child, and it's Keith's job to play with them.

The very next day the staff threw a shower for the THREE pregos in our building!!! We are all within about a month of each other, it's been really fun to share stories and encourage each other along the way. Heather on the right is having a boy, and Suzy in the middle is having a girl...what do you think I'm having???

We were serenaded by Marty who wrote a really funny song about being pregnant!

and got to open lots of baby stuff! The staff was so thoughtful and generous!!!!!!!!!! I know we all had a great time  :)

THEN...

When school let out there was yet another amazing shower!

These are the beautiful hostesses and me. Thanks Ladies, I feel so loved and spoiled! I'm very lucky to have such amazing and fun friends :)

Something I learned at this shower is that children make great tables!

FAMILY!

Keith got to join in the fun for a bit, he stopped by after golf and even got a little gift.

This week was all about happy tears, rain showers and baby showers! The rain and baby showers were much appreciated! It was a full and busy week, but soooooo much fun to feel all the love and stock up on baby gear. It makes us both so excited to meet baby in about A MONTH!!!!!!!!!!!!! Stay tuned....

The Birthday Suit

Friday, June 11th, was a very special day; it marked Keith's 31st birthday and the day this suit joined our family! We were supposed to go out to dinner before he went to Mead's graduation, but he called and said "change of plans, I'm buying a suit!" And sure enough he did! SUIT UP! He's been talking about wanting a suit for years and he finally just did it. Doesn't he look so handsome??? So professional??? I love your "Birthday Suit" babe :) I think you should wear it to the birth of our child...then you will both be wearing your birthday suits!

the jungle is gone

A while ago we decided to recruit a few high school kids to help us get our yard looking good for summer (with the hope that they could put the money toward Malibu this summer)....well, that was back when our yard was pretty tame! With all the rain we've been having and several delays in finding a weekend that worked for everyone, our yard turned into a complete weed jungle! I was just a little embarrassed to have our yard looking like this, however, weeding has taken a backseat these days. I was sooooooo happy that the boys came today to help Keith create an awesome looking landscape. Thanks Babe, it looks super! We still have a ways to go before it's just right, but we are definitely on the right track and ready to move forward.

Here is a before picture: see, I told you JUNGLE!

And an after

This is the future site of our fire pit! and the future future site of a carport? maybe. needs some rocks. perhaps next weekend (or when Dad, aka Grandpa John, gets in to town!).

before pic of the guys

after pic with new bark...man, new bark makes everything look so fresh!

before

after

oh, there is actually grass out there, and a few real plants! Hey Mom, aka Gramma Denise, wanna help me put some flowers in the pots?

How to create a country baby

In the past 10 days I have taken Baby Ross to two excellent country concerts! The baby really enjoyed them both and was perfecting dance skills inside me. Marissa came over for Lady Antabellum and Tim McGraw!

This is the view from our nosebleed seats :)

Thankfully I have a decent zoom on my camera!

Tim, you are so dreamy! Thanks for singing the perfect blend of old and new songs.

About a week later I had the opportunity to see Craig Morgan and Carrie Underwood with Keith's Aunt Joanna! These seats were MUCH better :) Thanks Joanna, what a special treat!

Hey Carrie, great show!
(I like to give personal shoutouts to the artists, just in case they are followers of our blog)

She put on an amazing show...tons of fun costume changes and cool stage changes. Here she is singing in the back of a flying truck! Flew right by us :) She also had a giant tree branch with a swing, and check out the video below to see her light show dress.

We're just hoping some of this talent will rub off on Baby Ross!

Spring Break + Spring Cleaning = no real break (and a really organized house)

First off we'd like to dedicate this blog post to Kelli, she gets a MAJOR shout out for basically being a genius and miracle worker! Without her help the craft area/office/Keith's closet merge could have been a marital disaster; instead we are beyond excited to share this small space. In fact, we may just spend this evening sitting in our respective spaces staring at each other and call it a date! Kelli, we love you and we are amazed at your skills (including, but not limited to, moving heavy furniture like 7 times---you should totally try out for American Gladiators or something! This fat pregnant girl was not so helpful in that process!).

I wish we had taken a before and after picture! This was Keith's world and that was perfect (golf posters, golf gear, his closet of clothes, and our "office"), just down the hall was Meghan's world which was also perfect (cute, chaotic, crafty and our "catch all" room) ...until we found out a baby would be joining us in this house and suddenly Meghan's world was going to be turned into the baby's world and my crafts were homeless! The original plan was to relocate to the basement. But the reality is that I might as well never craft again! There was no way I would venture down to the dark cold spaces (far away from a sleeping baby!) to get my creative juices flowing! A compromise was made. We could share the office. The only glitch: Keith and Meghan have very different organization styles. Keith likes nice neat piles---chaos contained, Meghan likes to see everything at once, spread out, that way I won't miss anything---chaos at it's finest! My mom had a grand idea to use an armoir to conceal some of the creativity. So we bought and built the armoir (as much as we hate build it yourself furniture, we are a pretty awesome team, and it totally saves money). Great! But the only problem was I had no idea how it would all fit and how to make the room look good too! I tend to be the kind of person who goes out to buy new storage baskets and cutesy things that I think will help me stay organized but it actually just adds to the mess. We had things plastered to the walls and bins of things to get to later...not looking good. Enter Kelli. We now have a spot for everything and even some room to spare! Keith and I are now in the process of deciding what are the essentials to keep in the office portion of the room (how long are you supposed to hold on to important documents anyway???).

We also FINALLY completed the basement cleanse! Oh man, how many weekends have we started and then procrastinated this project??? It's surprisingly difficult to let go of wedding gifts that have lived in the basement for 4+ years and we have NEVER used. But with my nesting in full gear we got rid of massive amounts of crap that we have no clue where it came from and why we have held on to it for so long, some of it has even made several moves with us---CRAZY. We might be hoarders. So here it is. Notice there is actually a floor in our storage space! And we will actually be able to find things we do use. AMAZING! We even have room for more stuff (and I'm confident in our ability to accumulate it!). This was a major undertaking to say the least. We spent many hours revisiting pictures and letters from dear friends and family, we made piles and piles of trash, give aways, and keepers, and we some how made room for the important things and said farewell to the rest. I feel like doing laundry is going to be a little more pleasurable in an open organized space. Well, probably not, it's still laundry.

The BEST part of our spring break was preparing for baby Ross! All this organizing did in fact have a purpose beyond the fact it really just had to be done! My mom was here for a few days to help me pick out fabric which she magically turned into crib bumpers and a crib skirt (curtains are also in the works!---yes, she is amazing!). She was also the driving force behind getting our butts in gear and not just waiting until today to get started on all this organizing. We obviously have a long way to go before the room really is ready for a baby (and lucky for us the baby isn't supposed to be here for another 4 months) but it feels like we are getting closer. Today while Kelli and I got crafty, Keith built our crib!!!! Isn't it beautiful? He did a great job! I'm so happy to have real baby furniture in the house and can't help but sorta wish the baby was coming a little sooner. Now with this crib all set it's really sinking in.

We are having a baby!!!

and it will sleep right here!